~Memphis, Saqqara and the Pyramids of Giza~

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EGYPT, THE GREATEST OF PYRAMIDS

None of the discrepancies among Egyptologists’ understanding of the country's history were on my mind as we found ourselves climbing the ancient stones which led to the modern entrance of the Great Pyramid of Giza.  Without any warning or preparation we made our way with our guide from Saqqara to Giza and were surreptitiously and unceremoniously ushered into the great structure for some private time.  I was caught completely by surprise, as I did not even realize that this was to be the day that we would enter the King's Chamber.

The guards had been generously bribed ahead of time, and our guide interceded when they tried to take away my camera so we were actually able to chronicle some of our experiences with photographs.  We were first led down to a small, roughly circular area that apparently held the closed off entrance to the pit down to our right, as well as a narrow, upward leading shaft to our left that seemed quite significant according to the guard accompanying us.  The shaft, ending with the light of day shining through off in the distance, beckoned us.  We realized that it led to the original entrance to the pyramid.

Nothing stopped us from entering the shaft so we began the upward climb, totally bent over and with our heads down to avoid the hard stone surface above us and around us.  The shaft is almost 350 feet long and not much more than 3 feet high and wide.  Less than half the way up it, in my role as the intrepid leader, I began to have some problems.  Never having experienced claustrophobia, it was a totally new sensation to feel the walls literally close in around me.  My back was screaming in pain, my legs were cramping, and my fear was increasing with each passing second.

I gripped the handrails in exquisite tension while attempting to convince myself that my fear was unwarranted, and continued my ascent.  The floor consisted of wooden boards with narrow strips of wood nailed upon them every foot or so to assist with footing and to hopefully prevent anyone unfortunate enough to lose grip on the handrails from fully sliding all the way back down the shaft.  It offered precious little security, and was obviously built in modern times.